New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and it definitely did not disappoint when I visited last year. You think of New Zealand for it’s incredible scenery, but there’s so much more from black water rafting, hiking mountains seen in the movies, to skydiving about snowy mountains and a lot of movie sets and adrenaline!
Queenstown
One place that can feed your adrenaline needs? Try Queenstown!
This is such an incredible place, this is seen as the place for total adrenaline! Here, you can go skydiving, jump into a canyon at the Shotover Canyon Swing, throw yourself off a bridge with a bungee jump or even go snowboarding and skiing – all in this one town!
Not to forget that this place is absolutely beautiful, there are plenty of viewing points and you can get a cable car to the top of a mountain to see some breath taking views.
I went skiing at Cardrona and it was great – this was a first for me and I was surprised at how many lessons there were for beginners, although most of the 5 year olds in the younger class were way better than me!
The Shotover Canyon Swing was pretty scary for the 5 seconds that you jump off but also so much fun! There’s so many different styles on how you can jump off, whether you want to ride a tricycle, get attached to a garden chair or even have a bin tied to your head..
Wellington
This is the capital of Wellington and you won’t be disappointed! From museums to botanical gardens, there’s a lot to be seen here..
Weta Workshop was a personal favourite, here they create all of the props for films like the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong and even Narnia. They show you how they create everything, give you a studio tour and show you that the props can be very deceiving to the eye! If you are a film buff, then I would highly recommend visiting here!
Wellington is home to one of the best museums in New Zealand too – Te Papa Museum. They had a mind blowing Gallipoli exhibition created by Weta Workshop when I visited, and the detail on these much larger than life figures was incredible! I was at the Te Papa Museum for hours and hours trying out the earthquake simulator and browsing at the culture of New Zealand and I didn’t even get around to everything whilst I was there.
Wellington is an all round amazing place to visit, there is a harbour with incredible views, a lot of shopping areas, has it’s own airport and they have the Botanical Gardens that you can get to via a cable car. Also, for any of the Welsh people out there, there is a Welsh Pub run by actual Welsh expats which is so much fun especially if you’re a little bit homesick!
Waitomo
Want to rush down waterfalls inside a cave full of glowworms? I found this hidden gem!
Here they have the most amazing glowworm caves that you can either go through via a boat, or you can do black water rafting where you flow down waterfalls and tube through the caves whilst seeing all of the glowworms.
It was so beautiful in these caves and I would highly recommend paying these a visit. It is so peaceful in there and it looks like you are gazing at stars, breathtaking! A definite must do.
Matamata
Want to know all of the ins and out of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy?
Hobbiton was the place that I was looking forward to the most when I visited New Zealand and I was blown away! Yes, it’s a bit pricey if you aren’t a huge Lord Of The Rings fan but for fans, you will adore it. You get to walk around the set of The Shire, visit the Green Dragon Inn and have a beer or cider and it will get you humming to The Shire soundtrack as you venture around trying to replicate ‘I’m going on an adventure’.
Franz Josef
Want to hike one of the most incredible glaciers in the world AND go in a helicopter?
This was my definite favourite from New Zealand, I had such an incredible weekend here and I would go back in an instant. It is a very small town but you can go up to the Franz Josef glaciers in a helicopter and hike for three hours and you can also go kayaking afterwards in the lakes surrounding the glaciers back on ground!
Milford Sound
An Outstanding day and scenes from The Wolverine were filmed here!
We had a day out to Milford Sound and it did not disappoint! They have filmed a waterfall scene from The Wolverine here and I think that goes to say how incredible of a place it must be, so take my word on this!
Tamaki Mauri Village, Rotorua.
Want to experience the real Maori lifestyle and culture?
Here you get the full Maori experience, they will greet you and welcome you to their Maori family, show you the Maori lifestyle on how they traditionally make clothing, family games, Maori songs and of course the Haka! They even cook you an incredible meal and entertain you with beautiful Maori singing and dancing at the same time.
A definite must do to see the real culture of New Zealand.
If you want to see any of my New Zealand videos, feel free to pop over to my channel to have a browse. There are videos on the Glacier Walk, kayaking, my skydive, canyon swings..
The Rambles of Nuggetstump 
